{personal} anacapa island part 1

I first read the novel San Miguel five years ago which ignited a spark in me. A spark in me that flares whenever I read tales of people in isolation, in nature, surrounded by the vast openness of the world, people who struggle and work hard and who live off the bare necessities. It's highly romanticized, but I often long for this seemingly peaceful kind of life. San Miguel tells the stories of three separate women who live on San Miguel, "a tiny, desolate, windswept island off the coast of Southern California." Though the first two women struggle to find happiness, the third blossoms amidst the peace and beauty of the island. I relished her accounts of everyday life and longed to one day visit the island which is part of a group of islands that make up Channel Islands National Park.

Last year I officially wrote down and shared my bucket list which contained, among other things, visiting the Channel Islands. So, in an attempt to start doing and stop dreaming, I quickly booked a trip to Anacapa Island (famous for its Arch Rock) and Santa Barbara for Labor Day weekend with my husband to celebrate our four year wedding anniversary. After being together for twelve years, it would become our first true vacation for just the two of us.

We departed on an early, gloomy Saturday morning, driving sixty miles west to Oxnard Harbor. We then took an hour-long, overcast ferry ride to the islets, East, West and Middle Anacapa slowly emerging from the fog. We docked at the landing cove and spent the next three hours traversing the two-mile-long trail system of East Anacapa. The sun emerged and we delighted in the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere, miles away from the mainland. The island was near silent, the only sounds being the wind, the waves, the seagulls and the other hikers. Though it lacks a single tree, Anacapa boasts its own stark beauty of meandering hills, scrubby bushes, a patchwork of guano, feathers, rock, and dirt, the odd flowering plant, and stunning coastal views. We visited the last permanent lighthouse built on the west coast, Cathedral Cove, Pinniped Point and Inspiration Point, named for its remarkable view of Middle and West Anacapa trailing off into the distance.

Being a photographer, I often battle between completely savoring a place, unhindered by technology, and the need to document it (I took three cameras with me, four including my iPhone). I feel I would have been better able to appreciate this experience if I hadn't been distracted by the need to capture it all. But alas... this is what photographers do.

Though we didn't actually visit San Miguel Island of the book, Anacapa Island was beautiful and I was very excited to see the Arch Rock. Being only an hour away from the nearest port, we can always visit again and see the other islands!